


mini

by flymetomanchester



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: College AU, M/M, University AU, hamster - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 18:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16331465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flymetomanchester/pseuds/flymetomanchester
Summary: dan's lonely while away at university and goes to a pet store to fill the void.





	mini

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for my college au prompt for the phandom fic fest!

When Dan started university he had no idea how lonely he actually would be. He didn't have the best of luck when it came to trying to talk to new people. The thought of it made him tongue-tied and anxious and caused him to trip over his words.

That made it particularly hard to live with his roommate in the dorms. His name was Phil, and Dan was even worse when it came trying to talk to him. It. was easy to avoid small talk with people in the halls and in classes but when it came to someone you were living with? Avoiding them was harder than Dan imagined.

Every day he would wake up earlier than Phil, so he could shower and be dressed and out the door as Phil would be waking up. Doing this day after day drained him. He was always tired but he couldn't stand the thought of small talk with someone. Each day he would go to the small coffee shop at the edge of the campus and spend £4 a day there. It was money that he couldn't spend but needed something to keep himself awake.

Yet like all things, when you try your hardest to avoid everyone around you, you find yourself in an awkward state of loneliness. One that for Dan was quite hard to crawl out of.

Typically he would see people go and buy expensive things to try and fill that emptiness inside of them. Others ate, and some bought pets. Which led him to where he is now.

It took a bit of time convincing himself, but Dan caved. He ended up going to the pet-store when most people were traveling back home. Dan rarely went back home during the school year itself. Seeing as he didn't have the extra money to waste on a train ticket. Walking through the store, Dan found himself towards the back looking at a variety of smaller animals. He had spent a few minutes looking at the puppies and longing for one. But he knew if he came back with one and Phil showed up or anyone else, it would be quite obvious.

Scanning his eyes over, he was looking at the different mice and rats. None of them seemed to make him feel anything, maybe it was considering the fact he had a slight fear of mice. Sighing, he walked along still looking until his eyes came upon a small animal, more so a tiny grey hamster.

Walking over, Dan looked at it and he felt his heart skip a beat. " _You sure are a cute little thing_ ," he thought to himself. He watched it run on its wheel before walking over the edge of the cage. It was almost as if he was inspecting Dan, which in return caused him to giggle. Reading the sign by him, he learned shortly that it was a grey dwarf hamster.

It took only a few minutes before Dan decided that he wanted the little guy. He ended up spending more than he could afford on everything he needed including the hamster. Walking back to his dorm he made sure to hide everything the best he could, at least discreetly. There were a few odd looks as he walked to his room but for once he was able to ignore it.

Walking into his the small housing he shared, he made his way back to his room, setting everything on his bed. Luckily Phil's room was across the hall from his or he wouldn't have been able to even get his new buddy. There was a chance that Phil would find out either way and if that time ever came, he would deal with it then.

Dan had decided on a name for the small critter that now lived in his room the day Phil was expected back. Oddly enough he had started bonding with the critter quite quickly. He ended up calling the pet-store and learning that his new buddy was a girl. It made figuring a name for her a bit easier, yet harder as he had absolutely no idea what to name a female hamster. It took him a few hours of looking through different name ideas, but in the end, he went with Mini. To Dan the name was perfect. She was tiny and fit into the pocket of his hoodie, where she spent a lot of time already, and in his sweatpants pocket.

Dan thinks she enjoyed the company as well as him. From the moment he took her out of the box they gave her to him in she was completely different than how he saw in the pet store. It was almost like she had more and more of a personality than he thought. When he was in the kitchen making food for himself, he learned that she loved apples. He had cut her a tiny piece and Dan was astonished when she went to town on it and ate it faster than he imagined.

Sadly his new found glory and temporary solution to his loneliness were in jeopardy. The night Phil came home, Dan was sat in the living room of there small dorm watching tv. Mini was in her cage in his room for the night, and he had already gotten used to the sound of her running on her wheel. It was like she wasn't even there to him. Dan had forgotten though that Phil had no idea there was a hamster in Dan's room. He knew that if he found out, Dan would be in a world of trouble.

"Hey," Phil smiled slightly, walking in once he noticed Dan was there. He knew Dan avoided him at all costs, and he wasn't sure entirely why but he was knocked back when a quiet 'hi' came from Dan.

"Oh here," Phil mumbled and reached in his bag, pulling out a bag of Maltese's and tossed them Dan's way. Laughing slightly when Dan stared at him confused Phil shook his head. "I know you like them considering there used to be wrappers all over the place. So I figured I'd be nice and get you a pack."

"Th - thank you," Dan mumbled avoiding looking him straight in the eye and smiled slightly.

A slight panic set in once Phil went to his room, as it was obvious a noise was coming from Dan's room. Hoping and praying that it would go unnoticed, his wishes were short lived.

You see, only a few hours later after Dan heard Phil in the shower, Phil yelled his name.

"Dan!"

Freezing, Dan was stuck in a paralyzed state. He knew. Phil _knew_ and Dan knew that he knew. Yet he didn't want to move. His hands had started to shake ever so slightly. The thought of what could happen was sending him on the verge of a hysterical breakdown.

"Dan?" Phil said walking out in his university hoodie and sweatpants. Phil could see the panicked look written all over Dan, it was just that obvious. "Dan, why is there a hamster in your room? You - you do know we aren't allowed to have pets right?"

Silent for a few minutes, Dan shook his head and mumbled, "Yeah."

Sighing Phil went and sat on the chair that was across from him. "You know if they catch you we'll both be in trouble right?"

Nodding slightly, Dan sighed and teared up. Cracking under the pressure he mumbled, "I'm just lonely and she keeps me company. I- I don't do well with interaction and - and so it's why I don't know anyone that well."

Sighing, Phil looked to the ground. This was the most that he got out of Dan all semester which he was happy that Dan was actually talking to him. But it made it hard considering the first real interaction with Dan, Phil in a way made him cry.

"What uh- what's her name?"

"Mi-Mini," Dan spoke and smiled softly, looking down. "I -I don't wa - wanna get rid of her. But - but I'll have to n-now."

Sighing, Phil looked at him. It was quite obvious already how attached to this critter Dan was. It was quite obvious why Dan got it. Things, even though Phil didn't know the entire story, were slowly making sense. From living with Dan for nearly a semester already, he knew Dan wasn't very vocal and kept to himself. Phil knew that was probably lonely, and he didn't blame Dan for trying to find compassion somewhere else.

Opening his mouth to speak, Phil found that no words came out. In silence they sat for a bit, the sound of Dan's hamster running on the wheel in the background. "I - We can keep her our secret," Phil said.

Looking over, Dan's face lit up and Phil felt his heart warm up inside him. "Re-really? W- wh- what if we get caught?"

"No one actually cares enough to uh to search dorms unless it's for something major."

Smiling, Dan nodded slightly at him. It was a genuine smile that Phil never had seen before. He had a dimple buried in his cheeks and his eyes crinkled. His nose scrunched up a bit and for once Dan truly looked happy to be living with Phil.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed this and if you like you can follow me over on tumblr [@slendydan](https://slendydan.tumblr.com) for any/all updates when i upload next!  
> disclaimer: usually i'm rwdaf on tumblr but i changed my url for the spooky season!
> 
>  read on [tumblr!](http://slendydan.tumblr.com/post/179162213453/title-mini-summary-dans-lonely-while-away-at)


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